Hat-pin protector.



R. L. SL ONAKER.

HAT PIN PROTECTOR. APPLICATION FILED 1133.21, 1911.

Patented July 30, 1912.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPN Co -WASHINGTON D C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT L. SLONAKER, OF WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA.

HAT-PIN PROTECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30, 1912.

Application filed February 2 1, 1911. Serial No. 609,966.

and protect the projecting end of a hat pin and which, while firmly sustaining itself upon the pin, may be readlly removed therefrom when desired.

tion resides in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings there has been illustrated a simple and preferred embodiment of the improvement and in which drawings, Figure l is an elevation of the improved protector, showing the same applied to a hat pin. Fig. 2 is a similar view, the protector being shown in section.

The projecting points of ladies hat pins have become a menace to the safety of the public, especially upon crowded thoroughfares, and it is the primary object of the present invention to obviate these dangers and at the same time to provide a protector for the projecting point of the pin, which is of an ornamental design, thereby adding to the attractiveness of the hat.

In the accompanying drawings, the numeral 1 designates an ordinary hat pin. The pin, in the present instance, is provided with an ornamental head 2.

The numeral 3 designates the pin point protector. This protector comprises a casing 4 having its lower end substantially cone-shaped and provided with an opening 5 through which the end of the pin is adapted to be inserted. Arranged within the cone-shaped casing 4 is a clutch member 6. This clutch is constructed of a single strip of resilient material and comprises what may be termed a body or head 7 having downwardly inclined oppositely arranged arms 8 and the lower extremities of each of the said arms are formed with lips 9. The lips 9 are arranged opposite each other and are preferably serrated so as to firmly engage the pin 1. The clutch 6 is of a size suficient to have its arms contact the coneshaped surface of the casing 4 and as the said clutch is moved downwardly in a man- ;ner presently to be set forth, the arms are compressed so that the lips 9 are brought tightly together and thus securely engaging wlth the pin 1. Connected with the upper ;or body portion 7 of the clutch is a tube 10, and the said tube is provided with a hollow, preferably cylindrical head 11. head 11 and the casing4 are adapted to be Both the of some ornamental design so as to add to the attractiveness of the same. The tube 10 projects through an opening 12 provided by the top 13 of the casing 4, and the upper portion of the said casing is preferably reclVith the above object in View, the invenv tangular in formation. Surrounding the portion of the tube connected with the body 7 of the clutch 6 within the casing 4, is a helical spring 14. This spring is adapted to exert pressure between the top 13 of the casing and the body 7 of the clutch so as to force the arms 8 of the clutch into contact with the inclined wall of the cone-shaped end of the casing 4, and thereby bringing the serrated lips 9 into engagement with each other and into engagement with the pins 1 when the latter is inserted within the protector.

It will be noted that the casing 4 is open at its sides and that the tube 10 is removably engaged with the clutch 6 within the casing. Due to this construction it will be readily understood that the clutch 6 is adapted to be removed from within the easing after the tube 10 has been removed therefrom.

In order to insert the pin 1 within the protector a pressure is exerted between the head 11 and the top 13 of the casing 4, so as to retract the spring 14 and to allow the spring arms 8 of the clutch 6 to spread away from each other. When the pin has been properly inserted, the head 11 is released and the spring 14 exerting pressure upon the body 7 of the clutch causes its arms to be brought together and its serrated lips to firmly grasp the pin 1. It will be readily noted that when the pin is to be released from the protector, the head 11 is again slid away from the casing 4 to allow the spring arms 8 to spread, when the said pin may be readily withdrawn.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,

th advantages as well as the simplicity of.

the device will, it is thought become apparent, and it is to be understood that while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of the improvement as it now appearsto me, changes in the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claim, may be made if desired.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, is

In a device for the purpose set forth, a casing having its lower extremity inclined toward its lower end, the said end being formed with an opening, a clutch member within the casing constructed from a single piece of material, said clutch mem ber comprising a' substantially rectangular top portion having a pair of downwardly inclined oppositely arranged depending resilient side arms, said arms having their lower extremities formed to provide a pair of serrated lips disposed opposite each other, said top portion formed with an opening, a tube removably mounted within the said opening and projecting through the casing, a hollow head for the tube, a spring member adapted to exert its pressure upon the clutch to force its arms against the inside of the casing and to compress the lips of the said arms, said casing being open at its sides so as to permit removal of the said clutch member therefrom upon removal of the said tube from the casing.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT SLONAKER.

Witnesses:

F ILLMORE Dorms, J. IVIEEHAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). O. 

